What is a trustee?

What is a trustee?

For some, the word “trustee” conjures up images of executives sitting around a conference room table, and can sound quite daunting. In reality, a trustee is anyone who cares about a charity such as yours, and wants to help guide it in the right direction.

Trustees are people who lead charities and, together with other board members, decide how they are run.

The trustee's role in a charity is to be the ‘guardians of purpose’, making sure that the organisation is run effectively, in line with their charitable aims and that decisions put the needs of the beneficiaries first. 

Trustees ensure their charity has a clear strategy, and that its work and goals are in line with its vision. They safeguard the charity’s assets – both physical assets, including property, and intangible ones, such as its reputation. They make sure these are used well and that the charity is run sustainably. 

What does a trustee do?

Trustees aren’t usually involved in  the day-to-day running of their charity. They delegate this to staff, usually led by a Chief Executive. Instead, they play the role of a ‘critical friend’ to the Chief Executive by giving support and by challenging – in a supportive way – to help them manage effectively. However, in smaller charities with few staff, trustees may take hands-on roles too. Trustees are expected to attend board meetings. The frequency of board meetings is individual to every organisation, but many  trustee boards meet around four to eight times a year. Some boards also have subcommittees that focus on particular areas of work or projects. Where they do, trustees may be expected to get involved with one or more sub-committees, as well as having a good understanding of their charity’s work overall.

What are the collective responsibilities of a trustee board? 

Trustees act as a team. Whilst each trustee may specialise in a specific skill, area of expertise or lived experience, the responsibility for ensuring that the charity is run in accordance with its governing document and making sound decisions is a collective one. Collectively, trustees will:

• Agree on important decisions
• Ensure that board meetings run effectively
• Review and agree on new appointments to the board
• Oversee the financial health of the organisation
• Understand the charities key activities
• Set strategic goals
• Manage conflicts of interest  

For further information, please read the Charity Commission's guidance on the topic. 

What should organisations think about when recruiting for new trustees?

Before embarking on a new round of trustee recruitment it is important to think about the skills and experience your board needs. The Reflect section of the Trustee Recruitment Cycle provides guidance on how to identify the mix of skills and experience your board needs to lead your charity.

It is important to be realistic about how much time you need, and when, to the potential role.  Your charity’s needs are likely to be made up of a range of activities that may occur at different times of the day and vary across the year. Questions you could consider include:

• How many trustee meetings are there each year?
• How long are the meetings, where and at what time of day?
• Are trustees expected to serve on committees?
• What opportunities are there to spend time with the organisation observing its work, both when joining and on an ongoing basis?
• What contact is there in between trustee meetings and how does this usually take place?
• Are there any one-off events or annual occasions that trustees are expected, or will have the opportunity, to attend?
• What induction and training will the organisation provide, and how much time will that take?

What should organisations think about when recruiting for trustees with lived experience?

Trustees with first-hand experience of the issues you address or the service you provide can bring powerful perspectives and play an important role in shaping your strategy. 

Organisations that are recruiting for lived experience can find some useful guidance in the following: 

• The Trustee Recruitment Cycle for valuable guidance on building a diverse and inclusive board
• Bayes Business School’s resources for inclusion and participation of trustees with lived experience. 

Further reading 

For more guidance, including the technical requirements of a trustee, please read the Charity Commission's guidance on The Essential Trustee:

Charity Commission for England and Wales: The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do

NCVO: Support for trustees

NCVO: Making decisions as a board